Water Treatment Programs That Work Where Other Programs Fail

Challenges
The boiler – a 1000-hp tube unit – at a plywood manufacturing plant in the Pacific Northwest had scale so bad that it had to be shut down after only a year and a half of operation. Treatment chemicals for the boiler were being mixed daily, however, the feed system was not working properly. To exacerbate the problem the boiler was running on hard water and there was no steam line treatment. Not surprisingly, the steam and condensate systems were also in bad shape, with many leaks caused by corrosion.

Approach
A Garratt-Callahan field representative found 16 plugged tubes in the boiler; fortunately, none had ruptured. He also determined that the feed lines were plugged to the point that almost no water treatment chemicals were reaching the system. To restore the boiler, he prescribed a high-pressure washing and flushing of the boiler tubes. Then he installed a water softener and a new chemical feed system, and implemented a new treatment program using four Garratt-Callahan products: Formulas 1156, 1154, 159, and 48. He provided training to plant personnel on proper test procedures. Finally, he made operational recommendations to improve steam trap performance and increase the overall efficiency of the condensate return system.

Results
Together with the pressure washing, the Garratt-Callahan treatment program has reduced the boiler scale deposits to almost nothing, and no new deposits have formed. As a result the plant began saving about $30,000 a year in reduced fuel costs. In addition, the Garratt-Callahan water treatment program costs $2,000 per year less than the previous, ineffective program.